Editing the Soldiers Kit - SkinnedMesh
Tutorial for editing the soldier's kit ('.skinnedmesh') by MDA*COMBAYNEOR Edited by Dnamro Purpose: This tutorial is for kit editing (in this case replacing ERYX on the back AT-soldier from BF2:SF faction Spetznaz with RPG-26 Agleni from BF2:Project Reality. The AT-soldier will wear RPG-26 Agleni instead of the ERYX on the back. Note: The author created the tutorial in his native language (Russian) and then translated it to English. Some of the screenshots contain some Russian language, mostly with the Windows screenshots, which I think are easy enough to figure out as is. Some of the screenshots had Russian words overwriting the image. I worked with the Author translate those for me (It's difficult to translate if you don't have all those letters on your keyboard). I cropped a lot of that out, if they were not necessary and to make easier to see the important parts. The others I replaced words with symbols (like "X" for wrong or bad and a "checkmark" for good or correct. Format Notes: Anything that is an instruction for the user to perform an action is in this format: * Do an action Tools needed: - 3ds max( 3dsmax9 is used in this tutorial) - 3dsMax BF2 Plugin tools - Adobe Photoshop with plugin for ".dds" files or other tool for viewing and editing the textures - BfMeshView for viewing the finished work. - BF2Editor is also useful for viewing the static mesh. Note: demo viewer in game with BattleDirector for third person is also useful for viewing the finished product First, install the 3ds Max BF2 tools for your version of 3ds Max. For install instructions: Bf2 Tools Setup For 3ds Max For info on 3ds Max BF2 plugins: Comparison of 3dmodeling tools for Battlefield Modding Setup: * In "c:/users/user/documents/3dsmax/scenes" create a new folder and name it "objects". * In this folder unpack the folders "Soldiers" and "Kits" from Objects_client.zip and Objects_server.zip (from xpack folder(Battlefield 2:Special Forces).You can unpack this folder where you want, but, it is more convenient to unpack in 3dsmax folder "scenes" because this is the default folder for 3ds Max to open files. 3ds max Tips . If the BF2 3ds Max plugin was correctly installed, you will see "BF2" on the 3dsmax toolbar as shown below.(screenshot 2) 3ds Max Tips Lets go over the common 3ds Max Tips that will be useful for kit editing. "Select Objects" —-> the Select Objects windithe menu that pops up when you click on the RMB. Depending on the selected object, it will have more or less options. (screenshot 4 and screenshot 5) More options here: "Right column" —-> This right column toolbar is where you will do most of your work. It is easier to work with if you expand it to show in two columns so you don't have to keep scrolling up and down in one collumn(screenshot 6) "Delete(Del)" —-> delete button on the keyboard (not pictured). This is used to delete the selected object "Mesh" —-> (screenshot 7) Now we are ready to get to work on the kit mesh. For that go to part 2 Editing the Soldiers Kit - SkinnedMesh - Part 2